The Trip down
Getting off work at the Edmonton International Airport , where I work part-time at 1 am and driving to Calgary in a Winter storm my not be the best way to start a road trip. But It was my first one in several years. By the time i got to Cornells ( BROL name: Bluecoyote) it was 5:30 am and there was almost a foot of wet ploughed snow on the street by his house. I had stopped at a road side rest stop to sleep for an hour as i had been up since 8Am the day before. So when I got to Cornell s I parked up the street and had another snooze until 7am. Then I drove up his drive way and immediately started to hear his party of three welcomer's. Cornells 3 dogs are notorious for announcing visitors to the household no matter what time of day. That is one reason I stayed away until 7am. Well Cornell was awake and getting ready. So I had some breakfast while he got the last touches of his gear ready and then we loaded up the van and headed to Californy!
Montana, Idaho and Nevada are huge! the landscapes where Epic!
Its hard to get a scope of just how Grand the views of expansive horizon can be in my iPhones pictures but i was constantly amazed at the vistas
and Cornells ever amusing stories and anecdotes of his 30 years as a curator for Parks Canada. To say the trip down to Sacramento seemed fast for 2750 klm is an understatement, a better travel companion I have never had,
(besides my wife) he didn’t even complain about my snoring! Fast downhill's in a minivan yes.
If you count the whitening of knuckles on the passenger upper grip as anything. Funny the faster I went down hill the whiter the knuckles and the quieter Cornell got!
The above photos are of Lake Tahoe and I must say it was a highlight of the ride down. This Vista matches any in Canada and is one of my favourites no matter what country!
Finally after two nights and a good and then a not so good motel we arrived in Rancho Cordova. A nice Room, a swimming pool and a shower! Then we started meeting people as the arrived. We commandeered and area out besides a couple with a big RV and a patch of grass and a light to sit by. Almost anyone arriving could not miss the group of us meeting and greeting each other. It is amazing to meet strangers to whom you only know by BROL avatar name and have this immediate rapport. TOT in June is like this too. You are “in” right from the beginning. If you are warm and welcoming so are the others. I met some great people while down there and believe I have made some new life long friends. Well after some drinks and laughs we finally shut i down after midnight to get some sleep for the next couple of days rides.
More to come: The rides down the American River Trail; Epic Hospitality; Bend Oregon, The Risse Factory Tour; Portland home of Terra Cycle Tour and home Lonnie Morse; The log cabin! and finally home. Stay tuned…
Blogger: ...VeloRydr - Edit post
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Super glad it is giving you so much pleasure! Say hi to Cornell (and Lonnie)for us...
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